Oh….didn’t realize it was my birthday when I was writing this!!!
According to an article written by Linke, Robinson and Pekmezi (2014), the likelihood people will engage in healthy behaviors depends on a couple variables, severity, susceptibility, benefits and barriers. The variables that I can most relate with are severity and barriers. I understood the potential severity of MS when I was diagnosed in January 2008. I knew how bad it could potential get. A couple years after I was diagnosed, I was again reminded of how severe this disease process could potentially be when I was injecting a patient for a cardiac stress test. She was an MS patient and a little older than I am now. The difference was, that she was non-compliant, meaning she hadn’t seen her neurologist in 5+ years, which meant she hadn’t been taking any disease modifying therapies. The image of this lady laying on a hospital bed, unable to walk or talk is a constant reminder to me when I don’t feel like doing my injections. The barriers that I face have a lot more to do with motivation and depression than they do with immediate or delayed benefits. My lack of motivation and my struggle with depression are the result of chronic pain. It has been better than 5 years since I have gotten up in the morning and was pain free and felt really good and ready to great the day. Dealing with all my other health issues also play a huge role in motivation and depression. It always seems like one thing after another. One minute can be, “lets go, I’m ready” and 30 minutes later the pain or fatigue has kicked in and suddenly this ambitious project is widdled down to something less so.With the JBIT MedPro, the results, although small, have been significant enough in the past five weeks to increase my motivation to continue. The depression still lingers only because I have been recuperating from herniated disc surgery and I wasn’t prepared for the amount of pain after surgery. I didn’t believe my results I was noticing until I did a follow up with one of my doctors this past week.This past April I was initially going to be starting a clinical trial for MS, but because they found a couple incidental findings in my MRI, I couldn’t do any part of the trial until I addressed those findings. Those findings led to partial thyroid removal and herniated disc surgery. By this point I was too late for the study and had to get back on my MS meds. Every time I go into the doctor they do their neurological tests and strength tests, in April, I couldn’t do any of the lower extremity ones. But, 5 weeks after using the JBIT MedPro for an average of 4 hours a day, the RN noticed significant improvement in my lower extremities and my hip flexor muscles. She had know idea about this “contraption” until I came in wearing it last week.
For me this was just more proof that it is working for me. My next step is to get on my elliptical with the tighter resistance bands that came with it and see how I do. I really wonder if by my next appointment(November 2014) my strength would be back to a more normal level? I just need to maintain that motivation!
I do much better with cheerleaders!!! This can be accomplished by telling me your pain story and what you have done to help alleviate your pain! I am a good helper, I can I help you with your pain? What can I do for you! The things that keep me motivated are helping others with the same issues I have. This is where my energy and motivation come from! So tell me your story! How can I help?